Their debut single, Yellow River, featured Christie and Elmes' voices dubbed over the Tremeloes' backing track cut at Christie's first session. Whatever its origins, it did the job, riding the U.K. pop charts for 22 weeks and reaching the number one chart spot in several countries. Even in the United States, where it faced the stiffest competition, the Epic Records-released single reached number 23, a very respectable showing for an act that was nowhere near ready to tour the U.S. Their follow-up, a group recording this time called San Bernadino, reached number one in Germany and number seven in England, though it never climbed beyond the lowest reaches of the Top 100 in America.
The group carried on for two years, going through several lineup changes leading into 1971, including the departure of Mike Blakely, who was replaced by Paul Fenton. Their second LP, For All Mankind, abandoned the commercial, pop-oriented sound of its predecessor in favor of a harder, higher-wattage, more blues-oriented sound, and the band's fortunes rapidly declined. They regrouped, with former Unit 4+2 guitarist/singer Howard Lem Lubin expanding Christie to a quartet. The professional clashes between Elmes and Christie signaled an end to the group's recording history in 1972.
Jeff Christie cut songs for Mercury Records in the mid-'70s and kept using the group name as an alias on material recorded for the Epic and Wizard labels, and took back his full name for records on the RK label in the 1980s. There were disputes over the use of the group name in the 1980s, though Jeff Christie appeared to be using it most recently, while Vic Elmes has sometimes fronted a band called "Christie Again" in Europe. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi